


family ties

by griffenly



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffenly/pseuds/griffenly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke wants to meet Bellamy's family, and Bellamy is petrified.</p>
            </blockquote>





	family ties

**Author's Note:**

> This was a gift from my writing giveaway for nathanmillr on tumblr. I hope you like it lovely!!

 

It goes a bit like this: 

They meet in college, her a little too tipsy and he a little too  _asshole-ish_ , and they fight about the ending to  _Casablanca_ for two and a half hours.

And then those fights keep happening, interspersed with good moments: the time Clarke got sick and Bellamy stayed by her side for almost a week, feeding her soup and watching lame romantic comedies with her; the time Bellamy got locked out of his apartment and showed up sopping wet on her doorstep, looking far too much like a wet puppy for her to deny him entry; the time Finn fucked her over and she cried on Bellamy's couch as he kissed her hair and whispered  _you deserve so much better,_ _princess._ They'd known each other for nearly a year and a half when the dam finally broke, when the tension became too taut and in the middle of a heated debate about the true story of Persephone, Bellamy surged forward and captured his lips with hers.

(Later, she asked him what had pushed him over the edge, and he murmured, "You're  _really_ hot when you talk mythology to me." She promptly slapped him.) 

And so now, newly graduated and having been dating for two months - and, really, it seems like longer, the way their friendship has worked - when she finally brings it up. 

Because,  _honestly_. 

"I want to meet your family," she blurts during dinner at her apartment one night, and Bellamy is so surprised he nearly chokes on the beer he had just raised to his lips. Clarke raises an eyebrow and continues chewing, her lips curving just slightly as he tries to regain composure. 

"You...  _what_?" 

"I want to meet your family," she repeats, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, and well, it kind of  _is_. They've been dating for a decent amount of time, now, and she and Bellamy... it means a lot to her. He's different than the other guys she's dated in the past, he's something  _more,_ and she hopes he feels the same way, and yet - yet he's hesitating to let her into the rest of his life, his past, and that worries her. She nibbles her bottom lip and pushes her food around her plate. "Or do you..." She sighs. "Are you  _ashamed_ of me?" 

Bellamy has finally gotten himself back together, somewhat, clearing his throat one final time, and when she utters those final words his mouth hangs open. "Clarke, is that a  _joke_?" 

"Well, I don't know, you're so adamant about me not meeting them, and -" 

"I could never be ashamed of you, okay?  _Never_." He grabs her hand with his left, and with his right tilts her chin up to look at him. "Alright?" 

Clarke nods. "Yeah. But then why can't I meet them? We're... we're pretty serious, right? And that means meeting the family. You met my mother  _weeks_ ago." 

"And look how well that turned out," he mutters, and she glares at him. He sighs, dropping her hand to scratch at the back of his neck, and says, "I know, I know. I just... my family is a lot to handle. There's a lot of baggage there, and it's just been me and O for so long... and you and my sister are the two most important things to me, right now, and if things go badly..." 

Clarke begins clearing the dishes, shooting him a sunny smile and a wink as she whispers, "Then let's not have them go badly, huh?" 

Bellamy groans. 

* * *

He calls Octavia from the seemingly-endless line for coffee, in between his Roman History and Physics classes, because he needs a fucking  _IV_ of caffeine to get him through physics. (He's a Classics major, for Christ's sake.) 

"O?" 

"Hey, big brother," his sister answers warmly. He can hear the sound of popcorn popping and one of those trashy reality shows she loves playing in the background, and it makes him smile. She's a sophomore in college, now, living in an apartment with her boyfriend Lincoln (although he _wholly does not approve_ , as he's told her a thousand and one times). "What's up?" 

He takes a deep breath. "So, you know my girlfriend, Clarke?"

"No, I _don't_ actually, because you won't let me  _fucking meet her_." 

"Language."

"What about your girlfriend, Bell?"

He scratches the back of his neck, a nervous tic, even though Octavia can't see him. "Well, she really wants to meet you, and - "

"Dinner at me and Lincoln's place. Thursday. 8 pm."

Bellamy gapes. "O - "

"No, don't _O_ me. You've been in love with this girl for like two years now, and before I could condone it, because you were  _just friends_ or whatever bullshit you were feeding each other, but _now_? You'll probably end up married in like a year and I'd really like a relationship with my future sister-in-law before the wedding, thanks," she says firmly into the phone, and Bellamy continues standing with his mouth hung open. His sister is just as fucking stubborn as him, which he forgets  _way_ too often, and although he's still antsy about the dinner (which is now actually, really, truly happening, dear  _God_ ), there's a piece of his heart that aches a bit less, now. Because O is right, of course: he's been in love with Clarke for the majority of their friendship, and Octavia is the most important person to him. And to have them get along would mean  _everything_. 

(He still worries, though. O is like him in a lot of ways, too, and... and Bellamy's fucked up a bit too often in his life.)

"Okay," he sighs, finally, and he hears his sister squeal on the other end of the line. "But you have to be on your _best_ behavior, O. I don't want... I don't want to screw this up with her." 

He can feel his sister smiling at him, even though he can't see her. "I know, Bell. I know."

He hangs up the phone and orders his coffee, and texts Clarke the details. 

He wonders why this feels so final, somehow. 

* * *

Clarke wears a red dress, something soft and simple, but she looks fucking  _great_ in it, and Bellamy can't take his eyes off her. 

"Let's just ditch the dinner and go home and I can show you how much I  _really_ love that dress. Especially on my floor," he adds, whispering into her ear. She blushes and slaps him, but there's a twinkle to her eye and she's smiling, and it makes him grin. (He loves her, he loves her, he loves her, and he wonders why it took him so goddamn long to tell her that.) 

"Here goes," he mutters to himself, and he knocks on the door. Clarke grabs his hand and knots their fingers together, and she can somehow  _tell_ how nervous he is, because she turns to him and gives him a smile that is doing all kinds of unnecessary (and inconvenient) things to him. 

"Hey," she whispers, reaching her free hand up to cup his cheek. "It's going to be fine, alright? She's important to you, and because of that, she's important to  _me._ It's going to be fine." Bellamy sighs but nods and leans forward to press his lips firmly to her temple. Just at that moment, the door swings open, a slightly-harried but radiant Octavia standing there with a wide grin and a mischievous glint in her eye. 

"Really, Bell? I leave you two out here for five minutes and there's already PDA happening," she says with a lifted eyebrow, and while Bellamy glares it causes a laugh to bubble out of Clarke's throat. "And you must be Clarke," Octavia adds, turning a warm smile to his girlfriend, and as Clarke reaches a hand out to shake Octavia envelopes her in a bone-crushing hug. Clarke is hesitant at first, her arms comically outstretched, but she returns the hug after a brief moment. 

(Bellamy  _swears_ there aren't tears in his eyes.)

(No, really.) 

(The dinner goes perfectly, and when he and Clarke get married a year and two months later, Octavia is her maid of honor.)  _  
_

 

 


End file.
